Strand guiding apparatus



July 23, 1940;

DE WITT D. MERRICZK STRAND GUIDING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 29, 1938INVENTOR By 0. D. RR/CK ATTORNEY I Patented July 23, 1940 STRAND GUIDINGAPPARATUS De Witt D. Merrick, Cranford, N. J., assignor to WesternElectric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of NewYork Application September 29, 1938, Serial No. 232,277

@ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE iii? i 9 Claims. (01. 57-438) Thisinvention relates to a strand guiding apguide receiving aperture, theapertures l4 and I5 paratus and more particularly to a cable unit in alike manner forming an interrupted circular guide for cable formingapparatus. guide receiving aperture concentric with and lying -'Informing cables, for example telephone between the outer apertures l2 and[3. A suit- (5? cables, of aplurality of cable units, consisting of ablebracket "3 apertured at l9 has an annular 5 groups of electricalconductors with insulating e ess o rec e S pp 13 11 5 e covers ofdifferent color combinations, it is fresupport in general alignment withthe axis of the quently desirable to guide the 'cableunits in completedcable. The support is removably seselected paths just prior to theirbeing intercured in place by studs 20 carried by the bracket twisted bya cable forming apparatus so that the 18, extending through apertures(not shown) in 10 cable units may be readily distinguished one from thesupport and provided with wing nuts 2| on the other at either end of thecompleted cable. the outer ends thereof. I It has been foundadvantageous to guide the A p ty of guide elements 25 are provided.cable units in definite and substantially equally which elements aretubular in general contour,

ll spaced paths just prior to the twistingthereof having at the entranceends thereof outwardly 16' to cause a uniform lay of the units in thecable. flared integral flanges 26 and at the exit ends However, cablesvarying in the number of selected threads for receivin s Washe s 3 arecable units require variation in the positions of positioned between thenuts 21 and the adjacent theguides for the cable units. wall of thesupport I I, as shown in Fig. 2.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple Diametrically opposedside walls 29 of the tubular 20 and efiicient apparatus'for selectivelyguiding guide elements 25. are flattened, as shown in varying numbers ofstrands. Fig. 1, to prevent possible rotation of the guide 'With thisand other objects in View, the invenelements when they a e lockedhin p en he tion comprises a support apertured to receive support. The flange26 of each of the guides ex 9,5 a selective number of guide elementsremovably tends over the adjacent walls of the support and andadjustably positioned in the aperture and in a like manner the washerand nut engage the aided in the adjustment thereof by adjacent adjacentwalls of the supports, but upon the opgraduations on the support toevenly guide positeside from the flange, ior the securing of strandstherethrough. the guide elements in place.

30 Other objects and advantages will be apparent Figs. 1 and 2illustrate an annular raised por- 30 from the following detaileddescription taken in tion 32 adjacent the outer periphery of thesupconjunction with. the accompanying drawing, port I I havinggraduations 33 equally spaced in wherein radial formation therearound,dividing the sur- Fig, 1 is a front, elevational view of the apface ofthis projection into sections representing 35 paratus illustrating onearrangement of the guide degrees of a circle about the center line ofthe 35 elements; support. 7

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along I t e p se tillustration, eight G e units the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and 3 are beingguided from supplies (not shown) to a Fig. 3 is a side elevational viewof the apparatus, cable forming apparatus which intertwists the asupport therefor being shown in section. cable units together. In thepresent illustration, 40

. The embodiment of the invention shown in the six of the cable unitsare directed through outer drawing is adapted to guide cable units It)from guide elements and two of the cable units are diindividual supplyspools (not shown) and direct rected through inner guide elements. Thetwist them in spaced paths to a cable forming apapplied to the group ofcable units iscarried back paratus of the type shown in the copendingapto the exit end of the guide elements 25 and a 45 plication of LesterO. Reichelt, Serial No. 597,947, short-distance from the support II ispositioned filed March 10, 1932. a sizing polisher 35 mounted upon asuitable sup- This embodiment of the invention comprises a port andapertured to receive a group of intersupport H, circular in generalcontour and havtwisted cable units. Therefore, in View of the ingarcuate apertures l2, l3, I4 and I5 therein. fact that in thisembodiment the cable units are 50 A central aperture [6 is also formedin the supdirected toward each other in a twisting motion port. Theapertures l2 t0 l5 inclusive are arcuto pass through the polisher 35, atruncated coneate in general contour, the apertures I2 and I3 shapedguide member 38 is mounted upon the being disposed adjacent the outerperiphery of support at the intermediate annular position the supportand forming an interrupted circular thereof to separate the outer cableunits from the 55 inner cable units and further assist in guiding themto the polisher. The guide member 38 is hollow and has disposed'in itsouter or exit end an apertured portion 39 through which the inner cableunits pass during their advancement.

If the cable being formed is to have eight cable units, it is importantthat these units be directed in predetermined spaced paths so that theywill lie uniformly in the finished cable. The guide elements 25, throughthe aid of the graduations 33, are disposed, six in the outer aperturesequally spaced from each other and two in the inner apertures equallyspaced from each other and each lying in radial planes equidistant frompairs of the outer guide elements. If desired, graduations may also bedisposedupon the intermediate portion of the support H adjacent theinner apertures l4 and I5.

If a cable of another type required, for exampie, twelve cable units,the apparatus may be conditioned to guide the twelve cable units atsubstantially equally spaced positions. This may be accomplished byloosening the nuts 21 upon the guide elements now positioned in thesupport and moving them so that an additional guide element maybedisposed in each of the apertures R2 to I5 inclusive, and all of theguide elements equally spaced and locked in place. When an odd number ofcable units is employed, the aperture [5 may be used to guide the cableunit through and for this reason a guide element may be disposedtherein.

It is apparent that the apparatus may be readily conditioned to guide inequallysp-aced positions any desired number of cable units, and toaccurately position the cable units so that they will lieuniformly whentwisted together.

The embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is illustrative onlyand may be widely modilied and departed from in many ways withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out inand limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A strand guiding apparatus comprising a support having an elongateaperture therein, a guide element removably disposed in the aperture,and means to secure the element in any'selected position in theaperture.-

2. A strand guiding apparatus comprising a support having an elongateaperture therein, a guide element disposed in the aperture, means tosecure the element in any selected position in the aperture, andgraduations adjacent the aperture for the definite positioning of theelement.

3. A strand guiding apparatus comprising a support having arcuateapertures disposed therein, and guide elements disposed in the aperturesand adjustably secured in selective positions relative to each other.

4. A strand guiding apparatus comprising a support having arcuateapertures concentrically disposed therein, and guide elements disposedin the apertures and adjustably secured in selective positions relativeto each other.

5. A strand guiding apparatus comprising a support having an arcuateaperture therein, a guide element receivable in any selected position inthe aperture, and means to secure the element to the support. 6. Astrand guiding apparatus comprising a support having arcuate aperturesconcentrically disposed therein, elements adjustably disposed in theapertures to guide strands in selectively spaced positions, and a guidemember disposed adjacent the support between the apertures to space thestrands passing from the elements from each other.

'Z. A strand guiding apparatus comprising a support having an elongateaperture therein, a tubular guide disposed in the aperture, and means tosecure the guide to the support in any selected position in theaperture.

8. A strand guiding apparatus comprising a support having an elongateaperture therein, a tubular guide disposed in the aperture and having afiat portion adjacent a wall of the aperture to eliminate rotation ofthe guide, and means to secure the guide to the support in any selectedposition in the aperture.

9. A strand guiding apparatus comprising a plurality of guides forstrands, and asupport having a plurality of elongate apertures spaced toremovably receive numbers of the guides variable with the number ofstrands to be guided and at variable relative positions.

DE VVITT D. MERRICK.

